Moral Support for Arts

Some of the biggest names in Hollywood are banding together to fight perceived funding cuts in arts education in public schools via an organization called The Creative Coalition. “The Creative Coalition announces the formation of the Arts Corps, a volunteer program that marshals leadership from the arts and entertainment arenas to help save arts funding in the public school systems,” according to Prodigy Public Relations. “This all-volunteer brigade will work with school boards, policy makers, parents, and other community leaders to encourage support for the arts in state educational budgets.”

“The ‘inaugural’ class of the Arts Corps includes actor and President of The Creative Coalition Tim Daly, and actors Omar Epps, Marlon Wayans, David Arquette, Patricia Arquette, Alfre Woodard, Steven Weber, Andrea Bowen, CCH Pounder, Esai Morales, Rob Morrow, Griffin Dunne, Giancarlo Esposito, Richard Kind, Richard Schiff, Rachael Leigh Cook, Tichina Arnold, Harry Hamlin, and KayCee Stroh. In addition, the Arts Corps also has signed on executives from the music, television, and film industries to participate.”

“The Creative Coalition formed the Arts Corps as a means of counteracting the wave of political and economic fall-out besieging [sic] America’s educational institutions and causing our nation’s states to abandon arts education funding as a means to salvage budgets.”

“The Arts Corps demonstrates to educators on a local level that a strong arts education is vital to the cultural and economic advancement of our country,” Daly said. “When students are exposed to art programs, they are far more likely to graduate from high school and continue their education.  These are the students who will become our engineers, politicians, business leaders, and creative thinkers in the future.”

“During these difficult economic times, our nation must realize the importance of designing and maintaining arts education programs,” Creative Coalition CEO Robin Bronk said. “Recent studies unequivocally conclude that the creativity and innovation utilized in the artistic process are highly valued by employers in the United States. Funding the arts in education is a local, state and national economic development issue. Our children are depending on us to make sure this current trend in de-funding is reversed.”

Perhaps we mere plebeians would be more impressed if these Hollywood hotshots did the whipout themselves. Surely a collective tithe from these luminaries could bridge any public sector arts education funding gap, real or perceived.

Actually if these creative geniuses raised as much for public school arts education as they have for the Obama campaign…

Malcolm A. Kline is the Executive Director of Accuracy in Academia.

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